This invention relates to animal traps and, more particularly, to a so-called "live" animal trap of the type wherein an animal is trapped unharmed within an enclosure.
Many techniques and apparatus exist which effect the general function of trapping or holding animals of various sizes. If the animal is sufficiently small, such as a squirrel, rabbit or the like, the apparatus is oftentimes portable. Typical of such traps are those utilizing spring-jaw arrangements which, when triggered, serve to snap shut upon an extremity such as a leg of the animal, usually severely injuring the animal in the process. Another variety of traps is the so-called live animal trap which, by and large, comprises an enclosure such as a cage which serves to trap any animal that wanders thereinto in a fashion whereby the animal is totally unharmed. Due to their inherent humane characteristics, these so-called live animal traps have enjoyed increasingly wide spread use.
Such live animal traps of the prior art generally comprise a box-like cage having at least one side opening or passage therein, the opening being selectively sealed or closed by a door through operation of a triggering device placed within the cage. Accordingly, an animal is lured through this side opening into the cage by bait such as food placed on the triggering device. The animal will subsequently trigger the triggering device by placing its weight on the same as it approaches the bait or by tugging at the bait itself. The trigger device thereafter closes the door and serves to seal off the opening behind the animal. Thus, the animal is trapped within the cage and unharmed. Exemplary of such state of the art devices are those depicted and described in the following U.S. patents, namely: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,394,487 Wood et al.; Hanlan--3,483,652; Gilbraugh--3,624,951; Sonza et al.--3,834,063 and 3,913,258; and Wyant--4,162,588.
However, having elected a trap design wherein the cage utilizes an "open-door" approach, the prior art therefore had to address and formulate solutions to associated problems related to triggering devices and providing a less threatening environment to the animal sought to be trapped. For example, it is obvious that the cage door must be quickly operative with a snap-action closing upon actuation of the triggering device so as not to allow the animal time to escape. Mechanisms utilized by the prior art to achieve this necessary function have usually been extremely complex and prone to failure, primarily due to the number of moving parts involved. Additionally, the triggering device or mechanism utilized must be fail-safe in operation and must be sensitive to movement by the animal. On the other hand, the triggering operation cannot be overly sensitive for fear that simple jarring of the trap could accidentally effect closing of the door, thus rendering the interior of the trap inaccessible to animals and the trap inoperative. Prior art traps of this general type normally do not satisfactorily provide a trigger mechanism which operates in accordance with these requisite expectations. Additionally, when a so-called live animal trap of the type having a plurality of openings and doors is utilized, the trigger mechanisms of prior art cage constructions have been unable to reliably and simultaneously control the release of the plurality of doors. Furthermore, due to the typical trigger construction of the prior art, it is difficult to set the trigger of such multi-door traps in a facile manner.
In providing a less threatening environment, the prior art has either hidden the door from sight or altered the appearance or shape of the cage. For example, Gilbraugh and Souza et al. utilize a folded door design to hide the door when the trap is in a set configuration. The door is only collapsible inwardly towards the interior of the cage about a horizontal fold axis. Once the trap is tripped or sprung, the door is urged into an unfolded configuration by a biasing means such as a spring or gravity, whereby the door snaps shut so as to trap the animal unharmed in the cage. On the other hand, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,472, Muelling utilizes an enclosure having the shape of a hollow prismoid which provides an illusion of greater depth, thereby thought to offer a less threatening environment to the animal entering the trap.
However, with the open-door approach, the fact remains that the animal must enter the enclosure prior to tripping or springing the trap. This poses the greatest disadvantage of the open-door approach in that the animal's hunger and/or curiosity must be great enough to overcome its apprehension or fear about entering the cage in the first place.
From the above, it is apparent that there exists a need for a live animal trap which provides a less threatening environment to the animal sought to be trapped and at the same time avoids complex triggering devices. The present invention solves this need in a novel and unique manner which completely avoids the above-mentioned "open-door" considerations, problems and associated solutions by utilizing a "closed-door" approach.